How to replace fascia and cornice?

[tigerzen]

Hi all,

My sister's place has a couple of jobs that need repairing. The fascia/barge board has a little bit of rot, just wondering what dimension of wood is usually used here as I'm thinking of cutting the rotted part off and replacing it with a short piece bought at Bunnings. The other question I have is can the cornice be re-attached with some PVA glue or must I use cornice cement?

[JacobZ]

Hi @tigerzen,

Thank you for your question about repairing rotten fascia and plaster cornice.

It's difficult to say the exact dimensions of the fascia board as there are quite a few different profiles that are often used. You might like to have a look through these Fascia Boards for some examples.

The only way to know for certain is to grab a tape measure and measure them, but it looks like it might be around 180 x 30mm with a 42 x 18mm piece attached over the top.

With cornice, it's best to use cornice cement for its holding power and its ability to fill the gaps where the cornice joins.

I'd suggest using Gyprock CSR 2.5kg Cornice Cement and following all manufacturer's instructions for mixing and application.

Let me know if you need a hand with any of the repair processes, I'm more than happy to assist if required.

Jacob

[tigerzen]

Thanks very much Jacob, it's a rental property and my sister would like to keep expenses as minimal as possible. The rotted fascia is quite a small length, is it possible to cut the timber at Bunnings rather than buy a long length?

[JacobZ]

Hi @tigerzen,

Unfortunately, you will have to purchase the full length. 

As the fascia on homes are generally long, they are only produced in long lengths.

They can certainly be cut to size, but you will have to purchase the full length.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Jacob

[tigerzen]

Thanks Jacob for confirming, it won't be a problem to purchase a whole length and the size is 190 x 30 mm. What may be a problem though is that the wood rot extends to just around the corner and that piece of fascia has a gutter sitting on it. So the question is: do I have to remove the gutter in order to make this repair? It's only about 150 mm of Fascia but it's pretty bad. Also, one other question, any idea what could cause this to happen? The roof tiles that sit atop the house are in good condition, there is a tree nearby but there weren't may leaves in the gutter.

[JacobZ · Accepted solution]

Hi @tigerzen,

The closest profile to this size that is readily available is a 185 x 30mm 5.4m F7 H3 Treated Pine Primed LOSP. Looking at Woodhouse Timber Fascia Boards, I can see that they produce 188x30 which can be special ordered at shorter lengths. If this is something you'd like to do, I'd suggest heading to the Trade Desk at your local store and asking for them to special order a length for you.

As the 150mm size is quite small, you may get away with disconnecting the gutter from a few of the gutter clips so you can slip the new piece behind it. If this isn't going to work, you can usually unclip the gutter and take it off without altering the location of the clips so it can just be clipped back into place once the repair is completed. 

It's possible that there may be a hole in the gutter, or that leaves created a spot for the gutter to overflow. Looking at the location of the rot, I'd suggest that there was a gap in the paint that allowed water in, only for it to be held in place by the paint on the bottom of the fascia board. When you are up there, I'd inspect the gutter to see if there are any holes that might require patching. If there is a hole that is a considerable size, you may have to replace the gutter.

Let me know what you think and if you have any further questions.

Jacob

[tigerzen]

Thanks again Jacob, no holes in the gutter which was in good condition. There had been a tree nearby with a branch leaning on that corner of the house. My sister says the tree has been there for a few years but now cut back, it looks to have caused quite a bit of wood rot in the fascia board and the window sills directly underneath the gutter side are showing signs of wood rot as well. 

[EricL]

Hello @tigerzen 

Please keep us updated with your progress, we look forward to seeing your fascia and cornice repaired.

Eric

[tigerzen]

Hi all,

Cornice is repaired, fascia I might leave to a pro, still thinking about it. Thanks for your help.

[DIYGnome]

Hello @tigerzen how did you get on with finding a solution to the rotted fascia board?

I've just completed a similar repair this weekend (although yours has a larger area to repair), if the rest of the fascia is in good shape I'd only cut out and replace the nasty bit, a router can be used to put the slot in any piece of wood (if it's required to support eaves as well) and you wish to use scrap wood of a suitable size, whilst a multitool is an excellent weapon to remove bad sections, the better your cutting/joinery skills the easier the fit & finish is to achieve, the reference video below might be of assistance 👍

Bitumen can be heated in the can and used to repair suspect areas inside of metal guttering should the need arise. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SychNY0X7r4